


Like a Dream or Nightmare

by LigerCat



Category: Phineas and Ferb
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Betrayal, Crimes & Criminals, Family Feels, Family Reunions, Gen, Homelessness, Hurt/Comfort, Parent-Child Relationship, Shame, Time Skips, Why Did I Write This?, runaways - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-20
Updated: 2019-12-21
Packaged: 2021-02-25 05:15:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21870673
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LigerCat/pseuds/LigerCat
Summary: A little angsty AU of Phineas and Ferb Get Busted not being a dream.
Relationships: Ferb Fletcher & Phineas Flynn, Lawrence Fletcher/Linda Flynn-Fletcher
Comments: 1
Kudos: 32





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Don't own.

Ferb tried to ignore the dampness. And the smell. The smell was probably worse and partly caused by the previously mentioned dampness that was settling on his clothes and skin and giving him a bit of a chill.

Next to him, Phineas had wrapped his arms around his bent legs, face buried in his knees. An occasional shiver being his only movement.

They were stuck. Their plan had been poorly thought out, not going further than simply getting out of that horrid place. Breaking out of the Smile Away Reformatory had been easier than they'd expected, once they'd lost the guards.

But they didn't know their way home, or if they even wanted to go home. The disapproval and anger their parents had sent them off with lingered in his mind. Their parents had to have known what sort of place they were sending their sons off to.

Ferb did play with the idea that they didn't know just how bad it would be there, but even thinking about them left a sour, betrayed feeling in his gut, and the fear that they'd be sent straight back made him grateful they'd made a wrong turn and ended up in a city that wasn't Danville.

Letting his eyes roam the opposite side the alley they'd duck into only reinforced the current problems in his mind. They had no cellphones, no money, no friends in this place to turn to, they had nothing besides each other and the soiled clothing on their backs.

"Do you think they'll look for us?" The whisper barely carried past Phineas' knees.

If their parents knew, Ferb didn't doubt they would. But part of him doubted that they'd be informed of what had happened right away. Two runaway children would stir up attention at the school, and the abuse that went on there was far from hidden. They wouldn't want the police to discover just how far that abuse went.

Of course, all of that was speculation. His knowledge of those subjects was somewhat limited.

"We should go."

Phineas raised his head. Even with only the moon and streetlights, the redness in his eyes was apparent. "Where?"

That was the magic question. One Ferb didn't know the answer to. Perhaps they could find a homeless shelter, just for the night. There was a chance they could avoid being reported as runaways for that long.

After that...

They were smart, they could build and design, but they were still kids. Legal jobs were out of the question, and he knew Phineas wouldn't be comfortable stealing what they needed. Nor would he be comfortable with Ferb stealing it himself.

He didn't want to consider less-legal jobs.

They could go home.

His jaw clenched, that feeling filling him again.

No, they couldn't go home. Not yet anyway. In time, the feeling of betrayal might go away. He might learn to block out the things that had happened at the school. They might be able to repair what that... that monster had broken in them.

Ferb took some pride in the fact that while he might have broken them, it hadn't been in the way he'd wanted.

They'd been good kids. Nice, respectful, they obeyed their parents, and they'd had no problems with authority. And what did they get? They were sent to a place where they were treated like scum.

If that's how they were to be viewed and treated, maybe they should give the people what they wanted.

As soon as the thought idea popped into his head, a small laugh bubbled up in him. Phineas frowned at him, but he only laughed more.

It was so insane that he wondered if everything that had happened to them had made more things in his mind snap than he had originally believed.

His laughter dying, he shoved the notion from his mind and stood up. Phineas followed his lead with that frown still plastered on his face.

They'd find a shelter and make it up from there.

Preferably without resorting to the idea that kept trying to slip back into the forefront of his mind.


	2. Chapter 2

When the news came, Linda had dropped the phone. At first, she thought she'd misheard. If she hadn't misheard, she had to be dreaming.

When she realized it was neither, she'd clasped a hand over her mouth and tried not to cry into the receiver.

Lawrence had come into the room after hearing the phone clatter against the floor followed by his wife's sobs. She didn't hesitate to let him handle the rest of the call.

Tears still ran down her cheeks as she repetitively dialed Candace's number in the car. It only went to voicemail.

Linda couldn't believe it as they drove into the city where her sons were. They'd been so close, just past the Tri-State Area.

A hand wrapped around hers, squeezing gently. She met Lawrence's eyes as he took a second to look away from the road.

They didn't speak. After so long, it felt like saying anything would break the spell and their children wouldn't be there after all.

When they'd found out the boys at runaway, they hadn't understood it. They'd been told the Smile Away Reformatory was a nice, safe place that would gently correct their behavior. It had taken months for everything to come out. The children there were abused, underfed, forced to do things that bordered on slave labor, tortured, and more, but she'd never been able to bring herself to hear the rest.

She subjected her little boys to that. She yelled at them for being themselves and sent them into a living nightmare.

As much as she wanted her boys home and safe, she couldn't find it in herself to blame them for not coming back.


End file.
